# Evaluations - Appalachian Regional Commission

- Evaluation of ARC’s Business Development Grants Closed Between 2017-2021 This report presents findings from an evaluation of ARC’s business development projects that closed between 2017 and 2021, representing 220 grants and nearly $75 million of ARC investment. The evaluation found that ARC’s business development grants closed during that timeframe led to improvements for nearly 11,000 businesses and facilitated the creation of over 14,500 jobs [&#8230;]The post Evaluation of ARC&#8217;s Business Development Grants Closed Between 2017-2021 appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Evaluation of ARC’s INSPIRE Initiative The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Center for Rural Health Research, in collaboration with the ETSU Addiction Science Center, conducted an evaluation of the INSPIRE Initiative on behalf of ARC in 2022-2023. The evaluation was designed to advance understanding of the accessibility of the application process, implementation successes and challenges, and preliminary grant impacts. It [&#8230;]The post Evaluation of ARC&#8217;s INSPIRE Initiative appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Evaluation of ARC’s Education and Workforce Development Projects Closed in 2015-2019 This report presents findings from an evaluation of ARC’s education and workforce development projects that closed between 2015 and 2019, representing 383 grantees and more than $62,500,000 of ARC investment. By the end of the grant period, 337,405 individual beneficiaries had been served. At the time of the follow-up survey, this had increased to 510,765, [&#8230;]The post Evaluation of ARC’s Education and Workforce Development Projects Closed in 2015-2019 appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Trends and Impacts of Local Access Road Investment in Appalachia: An Evaluation Report of ARC’s Local Access Road Program This report presents a study to evaluate trends and impacts of investments in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Local Access Road (LAR) Program using available project data and surveys conducted in this study covering the projects completed from 2001 through 2020. Information about 135 federally funded LAR projects was obtained from various data sources and classified [&#8230;]The post Trends and Impacts of Local Access Road Investment in Appalachia: An Evaluation Report of ARC&#8217;s Local Access Road Program appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- POWER Initiative Evaluation: The Value of POWER Since 2015, ARC has funded 395 projects under the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to empower Appalachian communities to create more vibrant, diverse, and sustainable economies. To understand successes, challenges, and lessons learned through implementation, as well as to examine results of POWER projects, ARC secured Chamberlin/Dunn (C/D) as third-party [&#8230;]The post POWER Initiative Evaluation: The Value of POWER appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- POWER Initiative Evaluation: The POWER of Change Stories of Results for Individuals, Businesses, and Communities ARC has worked with Chamberlin/Dunn (C/D) as a third-party evaluator since Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to understand the successes and challenges POWER grantees have experienced in the implementation of their grants, as well as early impacts of the projects. In FY21, the team collaborated with ARC staff [&#8230;]The post POWER Initiative Evaluation: The POWER of Change appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Strengthening the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Grant Performance Measurement: A Roadmap and Recommendations This evaluation was designed to help ARC learn about grant performance measurement practices at comparison organizations, assess ARC’s current grant performance measurement system, and provide recommendations for updating the current system.The post Strengthening the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Grant Performance Measurement: A Roadmap and Recommendations appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- POWER Initiative Evaluation: Factors and Results of Project Implementation Since 2015, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has funded more than 240 projects under the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to empower Appalachian communities to create more vibrant, diverse, and sustainable economies. To understand successes, challenges, and lessons learned through implementation, as well as to examine early results of POWER [&#8230;]The post POWER Initiative Evaluation: Factors and Results of Project Implementation appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Success Factors, Challenges, and Early Impacts of the POWER Initiative: An Implementation Evaluation This evaluation was designed to help ARC and its stakeholders learn from program implementation successes and challenges; identify technical assistance needs; and report on the qualitative impact of investments made, to date, with POWER funds. Full ReportThe post Success Factors, Challenges, and Early Impacts of the POWER Initiative: An Implementation Evaluation appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.
- Evaluation of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects: FY 2009–FY 2016 This report presents an evaluation of 379 drinking water and wastewater projects funded by ARC between fiscal years 2009 and 2016. The research team found that communities value the drinking water and wastewater projects, as evidenced by high demand, their key role in project completion, and how they serve to attract and actively leverage additional [&#8230;]The post Evaluation of the Appalachian Regional Commission&#8217;s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects: FY 2009–FY 2016 appeared first on Appalachian Regional Commission.